Logto vs Pocket ID
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted identity & sso options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Logto
Developer-friendly authentication and authorization platform
VS
Pocket ID
Simple OIDC provider that uses only passkeys
| Feature | Logto | Pocket ID |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Identity & SSO | Identity & SSO |
| License | MPL-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,621 | ★ 9,266 |
| First released | 2022 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Auth0, Firebase Auth, Clerk | Auth0, Authelia |
What are Logto and Pocket ID?
Logto
Logto is an open-source identity solution built for developers, offering passwordless sign-in, social login and enterprise SSO. It provides prebuilt sign-in experiences and SDKs for many frameworks.
- Prebuilt customizable sign-in experiences
- Passwordless and social authentication
- Multi-framework SDKs
- Role-based access control
Pocket ID
Pocket ID is an open-source, simple OpenID Connect provider that authenticates users exclusively with passkeys. It is self-hosted to add passwordless SSO to applications with minimal configuration.
- Passkey-only authentication
- Simple OIDC provider
- Minimal configuration
- Lightweight
Logto vs Pocket ID: key differences
Logto is written in TypeScript, while Pocket ID is built with Go. Licensing differs — MPL-2.0 for Logto versus BSD-2-Clause for Pocket ID. Pocket ID is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Logto. Logto is the more established project (first released 2022), while Pocket ID arrived in 2024.
Why pick each one
Choose Logto if…
- Great developer experience
- Modern UI and SDKs
Watch out for
- Younger project with evolving APIs
Choose Pocket ID if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 9.3k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Logto or Pocket ID better?
Neither is universally better. Logto has the larger community, while Pocket ID is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Logto and Pocket ID free and open-source?
Yes. Logto is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Pocket ID under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Logto and Pocket ID with Docker?
Logto: yes. Pocket ID: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Logto or Pocket ID?
Pocket ID has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Logto. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.